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Sunday, December 10, 2023

Trump warns ‘Biden indictments’ against him opened ‘Pandora’s box’: ‘Be careful what you wish for’

Former President Donald Trump addressed a raucous crowd chanting his name at Cipriani’s flagship location on New York’s Wall Street Saturday evening, rallying the faithful and warning President Biden that indicting a former commander-in-chief would be a two-way street should he return to the White House.

“He’s opened up a Pandora’s box that will never let our country be the same. I can only say to Joe: Be very careful what you wish for, but you have done is a terrible thing,” Trump thundered to roughly 1,000 assembled guests, who dined on wild mushroom risotto and filet mignon.

The swanky event was sponsored by the New York Young Republican Club.

“I am being indicted for you. These are not indictments in the traditional sense. These are Biden indictments against their political opponent,” the 77-year-old 2024 frontrunner said.

Trump faces 91 felony counts from four separate state and federal probes — something he repeatedly bragged about.

“I am the first guy who ever got indicted whose poll number went up,” he said in jest while comparing himself to notorious gangster Al Capone.

Trump vowed to win the GOP primary and the White House in the 2024 presidential election — and said he would even win the deep blue Empire State.

“We’re going to take New York,” Trump said to applause. “I believe we have a great chance … With hundreds of thousands of people living on the sidewalks and streets and illegal aliens invading our city and state like nobody thought possible.”

Trump laced into his political enemies as well, mocking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as “DeSanctimonious,” and his former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley as “birdbrain.” He savaged New York Attorney General Letitia James as “peekaboo James” and a “vicious lunatic.”

Trump spoke after a lengthy evening which also featured remarks from Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).

About 30 minutes before speaking, Trump enjoyed dinner at a roped-off table and was spotted in deep conversation with New York Young Republican Club President Gavin Wax. He was also briefly treated to a personal serenade from the aptly named Hungarian violinist Zoltan Maga.

Master of Ceremonies Alex Stein made light of Trump’s legal troubles by joking that he hoped the former president went to jail because it would help with “the black vote.”

Among those spotted in a VIP cocktail hour ahead of the ceremonies included Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Col.) and Andrew Giuliani. Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon also purchased his own table for the event — where individual tickets ran about $700 a head.

New York City GOP Councilwomen Vickie Paladino and Inna Vernikov were also in attendance. Vernikov herself was honored by Trump on stage — who approvingly noted that he kept reading about her in the press.

“That’s why I wanted to see her,” Trump said after exchanging a kiss on both cheeks.

“Well, that was not planned,” Vernikov texted The Post from her table.

Former New England Patriots Defense End Jake Bequette was also on hand, carrying a Super Bowl ring he allowed admirers to pose for pictures with. Vish Burra, a top aide to former Rep. George Santos — who was expelled from Congress last week after a cascading series of corruption allegations — was also spotted schmoozing and defending his former boss, whom he lovingly called “the Princess Diana of our generation.”

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani sat at a table with his former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik.

As in years past, the event has an international flair. Miklos Szantho, the head of the right-leaning Hungarian Center for Fundamental Rights, and Hungary’s Ambassador to the US Szabolcs Takács both delivered brief remarks from the main stage.

https://nypost.com/2023/12/10/news/trump-warns-biden-indictments-against-him-opened-pandoras-box/

'Big Tech’s Ability to Deliver on AI Profits Looms Over S&P 500'

Top seven stocks in S&P 500 produced most of 2023’s gains
Pressure is mounting to deliver on promise of AI earnings

The fate of the S&P 500 is increasingly resting on whether a handful of the biggest technology companies can parlay artificial intelligence investments into even higher profits.

Seven firms including Microsoft Corp. and Nvidia Corp. have driven about three-quarters of the index’s gain this year, in a rally stoked by an investor obsession with AI’s potential to disrupt vast parts of the economy. Valuations are high, with the companies’ shares trading at an average of 32 times earnings. Pressure is mounting on companies to deliver on some of the earnings hope embedded in their ever-rising stock prices.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-10/big-tech-s-ability-to-deliver-on-ai-profits-looms-over-s-p-500

Guess What Industry Dominates 2023's Top TV Advertisers

In 2023, advertising spend is projected to reach $61.3 billion on U.S. broadcast and cable TV.

Despite declining viewership, traditional TV has been found to be an optimal platform for storytelling ads. Additionally, advertisers can target viewer segments on traditional TV—similar to digital marketing channels.

Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld shows the top advertisers on traditional TV outlets in the chart below, based on data from Nielsen.

Top 10 National TV Advertising Spenders

Here are the top advertisers on national U.S. broadcast and cable TV for the month of June 2023:

Procter & Gamble was the top TV advertising spender in the U.S., at $109.3 million. Home to Gillette, Crest, and Tide, the company spent a stunning $5.1 billion in overall advertising in 2022.

Pharmaceutical companies Abbvie and GSK were the next biggest spenders, at $81.4 million and $52.8 million, respectively. Overall, pharmaceuticals accounted for the largest share of advertising across the top 10.

Big tech companies Alphabet and Amazon also made the list, each spending over $30 million in June alone.

Top 10 Local TV Advertising Spenders

By contrast, the automotive sector made up seven of the top 10 local broadcast and cable TV advertisers, led by General Motors and Toyota:

Meanwhile, communication giants Comcast and Charter were big spenders, and the nation’s largest personal injury law firm, Morgan & Morgan, ranked in seventh overall.

U.S. Television Trends

Today, live TV viewership in the U.S. is primarily made up of those aged 65 and over, which spend nearly five hours per day watching TV. In contrast, those aged 25-34 spend only about one hour and 12 minutes per day watching live TV.

Furthermore, in 2022, fewer than half of U.S. viewers paid for traditional TV services for the first time. By year-end 2027, this proportion is projected to fall to just over a third of households.

Yet due to its scale of available media inventory, traditional TV may continue to bring in the bulk of TV advertising spending over the near future. One reason is that advertising makes up 20% of time spent on traditional TV but just 3% on streaming platforms.

However, as viewership declines, advertisers on live TV say that they are most likely to allocate their ad spend to streaming services. By year-end 2027, ad spend on streaming platforms is projected to jump to $40.9 billion, a 63% increase from 2023.

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/guess-what-industry-dominates-2023s-top-tv-advertisers

Top Defense Official: 'US Can Handle Middle East, Russia & China Operations All At Once'

It might be difficult for most any American, especially in the younger generation, to remember a time when America was not deeply involved in a raging foreign conflict - whether directly or via proxies. At this very moment the US is shipping heavy weapons and sinking billions in aid into to no less than two major wars which have the potential to erupt into broader regional or even world conflagrations involving clashing large powers: namely, the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Gaza conflicts.

While much of the public might rightly think the United States has once again overextended itself, one top defense official has shrugged it off and essentially said... no problem. At an Atlantic Council event held days ago Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Christopher Grady said that the Pentagon stands ready to handle missions connected to three potential proxy wars in defense if its interests if it comes to that.

Grady described that the US Navy in particular is capable of waging battle against Russia in Ukraine, against China in Taiwan, and is ready to assist the Israelis in Gaza if called upon. This could be done simultaneously, he described, while admitting this would stretch naval forces thin.

Adm. Grady explained, "You look at what is required to support Ukraine, look at what might be required to support our partner in Israel, and then, of course, you put Taiwan on top of that—we have the construct that we do with combatant commanders and the rest that should allow us to command and control those three things all at one time."

He stressed, "It’s part of our campaigning process, which is central to the national defense strategy. Is it challenging? Sure." During the remarks he spoke of various emerging global hotspots as "test cases" and suggested that the so-called rules-based order would collapse if the US didn't rise to the challenge.

On China in particular, and the potential for future clash over Taiwan independence, he said as follows:

Grady said increased Chinese activity near the shoal was "a case where the probability of buffoonery goes way high as you start to see the Chinese PRC, PLA and, more importantly, not PLA and but kind of white and white vessels like Coast Guard equivalents," participating in activities meant to coerce U.S. allies in the region like the Philippines and Taiwan.
More disturbingly, he said, "The tempo is a little bit higher right now. This Isn't a test case for what we would do; I think it's a test case for the whole rules-based international order, frankly."

This appeared an attempt to justify and rally behind Biden's pushing Congress to pass a $106 billion funding package to further arm Ukraine, Israel, as well as support operations in the Asia-Pacific.

Watch the full Atlantic Council segment featuring Adm. Grady's remarks...

Later in the same week, President Biden claimed that if Ukraine weapons and funds don't continue flowing freely, Russia will be emboldened to take more territory - eventually moving beyond Ukraine, and that this would require US troops to fight Russian troops directly. The highly dubious logic seemed more of a desperate attempt at fearmongering, however, which is unlikely to sway the GOP holdouts blocking the Biden plan.

https://www.zerohedge.com/military/top-defense-official-us-can-handle-middle-east-russia-china-operations-all-once

UNfortunately Predictable: UN Declares UNRWA Terrorism Story "Misinformation"

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has issued a warning that a story about its staff holding hostages in Gaza is possible “misinformation” and should be removed from the media.

As Jonathan Turley details below, the UN has long supported censorship and we previously discussed how figures like World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for such action to combat what he called the “infodemic” - a claim made as his own organization came under fire for its actions vis-a-vis China on the pandemic.
Now UNRWA is raising possible defamation of the group. Indeed, the latest statement reads like a notice letter in a defamation case, but how serious is it?
This controversy began with the report on Israeli Channel 13 that a UNRWA teacher held an Israeli hostage in an attic for 50 days:
“A teacher with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reportedly held an Israeli hostage taken captive by Hamas on Oct. 7 in an attic.
The teacher, a father of 10 children, kept the hostage for almost 50 days, barely provided food, and neglected the hostage’s medical needs, Israeli Channel 13’s Almog Boker reported Wednesday.
A Gazan doctor also held another hostage, according to Boker.”
The Times of Israel has also reported that Israeli forces have found boxes bearing the UNRWA logo at terrorist sites and found rockets underneath boxes with UNRWA markings in a residential home. The allegations have led to a call from one U.S. Senator for an investigation.
The use of the “misinformation” label to demand removal of the story is unfortunately predictable. The UN has long been a hostile organization to free speech and fostered calls for international blasphemy laws and censorship policies.
Faced with this alarming story, UNRWA immediately pushed back with a statement that reporters were spreading “unsubstantiated claims” and “must stop immediately.”
The organization insisted that the reporter has not shared the basis for the story and suggested that it may be false.
The story has not been vetted by outside organizations and this blog is in no position to do so.
There have been prior stories linking UNRWA to terrorist activities or celebrating the attack in Reuters, UNWatch, and the Washington Examiner.
If the story is false, there could be a defamation claim by the teacher if he is identified. The teacher may be a public figure or limited public figure in Gaza. It is hard to tell, obviously. Non-public figures in the United States can base claims under a negligence or fault standard. Otherwise, they have to show that the reporter knew that the story was false or showed reckless disregard for the truth under the New York Times v. Sullivan “actual malice” standard.
The question is UNRWA itself. The group invoked defamation in its public demand for the story to be withdrawn:
“UNRWA is the largest humanitarian organization in the Gaza Strip and is currently hosting more than 1 million people in its shelters. Defamation attacks and the spread of misinformation about UNRWA -from any side- directly endanger the lifesaving operations of the Agency and its staff operating on the ground…These harmful and presumably gratuitous acts must stop, immediately.”
This story is not a matter of opinion. It is a factual claim that a UNRWA teacher held a hostage in Gaza. In the United States, truth would remain a defense for the media.
However, group libel claims in the United States are notoriously difficult.
We have previously discussed this tort theory. Such lawsuits are very difficult to maintain. In Neiman-Marcus v. Lait (1952), a New York federal district court addressed a defamation claim arising from the publication of the book “U.S.A. Confidential.” The author wrote that “some” models and “all” saleswomen at the Neiman-Marcus department store in Dallas were “call girls.” It also claimed that “most” of the salesmen in the men’s store were “faggots.” The store had nine models, 382 saleswomen and 25 salesmen. The court found the size of the group of women was too big to satisfy a group libel standard. However, the size of the group of salesmen was viewed as sufficiently small to go to trial.
When Donald Trump was sued by a Chinese American group for his use of the term “Kung Flu,” the court dismissed the claim and wrote:
To state a claim for defamation under New York law, a plaintiff must allege, among other elements, a statement that is “of and concerning” the plaintiff. However, “[u]nder the group libel doctrine, when a reference is made to a large group of people, no individual within that group can fairly say that the statement is about him, nor can the ‘group’ as a whole state a claim for defamation.” The group libel doctrine thus defeats the “of and concerning” element of a defamation claim. The group libel doctrine can be overcome only by a showing that the “the circumstances of the publication reasonably give rise to the conclusion that there is a particular reference to the member.”
However, the group did not allege a defamation claim on its own behalf. Here UNRWA is effectively making such a claim. Moreover, UNRWA could claim that its staff in Gaza is relatively small and that story paints them all as in league with Hamas and its terrorist operations.
Neiman-Marcus shows how leery courts have been in allowing group libel cases to go forward, even with relatively small groups like a sales staff. UNRWA assists a million refugees in Gaza and must have a much larger staff and associated individuals on the ground.
Even in business defamation actions, free speech protections loom large. That is even more the case with UNRWA, which is the subject of considerable public debate and controversy over its operations.
While the teacher could raise a defamation claim, the UNRWA would be hard pressed to make a group libel claim in my view. That is assuming that the story is false and the reporter lacked sourcing for the story.
There is another approach to suppressing the story as “misinformation” or suing as defamation. UNRWA could use its own free speech (as it has) to rebut the allegations and leave the conclusions to the public to reach as a result of the ensuing debate.
[ZH: But instead they wanted to talk about flour aid deliveries...]
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/unfortunately-predictable-united-nations-declares-unrwa-terrorism-story-misinformation